Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a carbonization apparatus, for carbonizing material which includes metal parts, particularly waste materials with metal wires or metal bands, wherein the carbonization apparatus includes a residue discharge pipe which is rotatable about its longitudinal axis and which has a discharge port at a face end thereof for discharging carbonization residues. The invention further relates to a carbonization drum of a carbonization apparatus which is rotatable about its longitudinal axis. The residue discharge pipe may be a part or a segment of the carbonization drum, or it may be a component which is connected to the carbonization drum.
A carbonization apparatus for carbonizing waste materials is known from German Published, Examined Patent Application 27 13 031. Waste materials are fed into a heated carbonization drum which is rotatable about its longitudinal axis. In the carbonization drum, the waste materials are carbonized to form carbonization gas and solid carbonization residue. The carbonization gas and carbonization residue leave the carbonization drum via a residue discharge pipe firmly joined to the carbonization drum and rotating therewith. From there, the carbonization gas reaches a carbonization gas line, while the solid carbonization residue drops downward into a discharge device. It may be adjoined by a transport system and/or a sorting device.
The waste materials to be carbonized may include metal wires or metal bands. Spirals, springs and similar metal parts may also be present in the waste. Such metal parts originate in steel-belted tires, Bowden cables, other cables, plastic composite materials, or electrical appliances, for instance. Once the waste materials have been introduced into the carbonization drum, the metal parts are exposed during the carbonization process. This is ascribed to the fact that at the temperatures of approximately 400.degree. C. to 700.degree. C. that prevail in a carbonization drum, most of the organic substances by which the metal parts are joined are carbonized. At those temperatures, metal is not destroyed. The metal parts, freed of plastic or rubber by the carbonization process, are matted together by the rotary motion of the carbonization drum. Particularly when relatively long wires, bands or spirals are present, a tangled rope forms in the carbonization drum during the carbonization process as a consequence of the rotary motion. That entanglement may extend over the entire length of the carbonization drum. The diameter of this tangled rope often amounts to approximately 20 to 30 cm, depending on the size of the drum and on the type of waste. Some metal parts, particularly steel casings from steel-belted tires and Bowden cables, are so stable that the resultant tangled rope does not break off even by the time it reaches the discharge port of the carbonization drum. The tangled rope then moves endlessly out of the carbonization drum and enters into the discharge device for carbonization residue. This may plug up the discharge device. It can also hinder the discharge of the remaining carbonization residue. If a transporting and sorting device is connected to the residue discharge device, the danger exists that the operation of these devices will be impeded by the tangled rope. Then the entire carbonization device would be shut down.